PAW PAW, MI -- Van Buren County government closed out its last fiscal year in the black with a $400,000 surplus.

The county Board of Commissioners last week got a presentation from East
Lansing-based auditing firm Abraham & Gaffney on the 2010-11 fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.

The county's general fund took in about $20.5 million, while the county spent about $20.1 million. Reserves were about 25 percent of the budget, or $5.2 million, according
to County Administrator Douglas Cultra.

"We're in good financial
shape," Cultra said.

Van Buren County has been in what Cultra termed "a
real good financial situation" since 2007. Unlike many
other units of government, it is not using reserves to pay the bills, he said.

He credited a
prudent and conservative county board with a desire to live within the county's
financial resources.